SCOTT (ROBERT FALCON) Autograph letter signed, Chelsea, 30 October [1904/1905]

SCOTT (ROBERT FALCON) Autograph letter signed ('R.F. Scott'), to Mr Bowen, thanking him for his invitation to stay and regretting that Sheffield is not a stop on his lecture tour, as he looks forward to seeing him '...to talk about your people who were so very kind to me in New Zealand, but, since our return, I have scarcely had a moment's peace...', ending by saying he has not met the Wigrams in England but hopes to do so before they go back to New Zealand, four pages on a bifolium, dust-staining, discolouration and marks, remains of tape where removed from album, two small areas of loss at upper and lower edge, not affecting text, 8vo (170 x 120mm.), Oakley Street, Chelsea, 30 October [1904/1905] Footnotes: 'YOUR PEOPLE WHO WERE SO VERY KIND TO ME': SCOTT WRITES FONDLY OF HIS NEW ZEALAND HOST ON HIS RETURN FROM THE BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. Our letter can be dated to around 1904/5 after Scott's triumphant return from the 1901-1904 British Antarctic 'Discovery' Expedition, when he had embarked on an extensive lecture tour. He writes here to a Mr Bowen, seemingly a Sheffield-based relative of Sir Charles Bowen (1830-1917), prior to returning to his full-time naval career in January 1906. Sir Charles had emigrated to Canterbury, New Zealand in 1850 and enjoyed a successful career in government, best known for his landmark Education Bill, which provided a system for compulsory and free state education in New Zealand for the first time. Between 1859 and 1862 he had travelled the world with Sir Clements Markham and married Markham's sister Georgina in London in July 1861. Through his connection with Markham, the driving-force behind Antarctic exploration, Bowen hosted Scott and the expedition party including Shackleton at his home, Middleton Grange, conveniently en route for McMurdo Sound, both for the 1901-4 British National Antarctic Expedition and later for the ill-fated 1910-13 Expedition. His daughter had married Robert Falcon Scott's cousin Robert Julian Scott, professor of engineering at Canterbury College, in 1889 (see Dictionary of New Zealand Biography online). Provenance: Private collection, U.K. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing